Nevada Super Bowl betting up more than 20 percent, hits record level

Posted by Mike Wilkening on February 3, 2014, 8:16 PM EDT

Getty Images

The sports books of Nevada had a Super Bowl to remember.

Sports books won close to $19.7 million on Super Bowl XLVIII, the Nevada Gaming Control Board announced on Monday. The sports books’ cumulative profit of about 16.5 percent was the biggest return the state’s regulated books have seen since the Patriots defeated the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.

A record $119.4 million was legally wagered on Super Bowl XLVIII at the state’s sports books, according to state figures. That’s an increase of about 20.7 percent from last year, when a then-record $98.9 million was bet on Ravens-49ers.

The Broncos were a 2.5-point favorite for much of the betting on Super Bowl XLVIII, but it was the underdog Seahawks who rolled to a 43-8 victory.

Snap into endzone, thomas throwing the ball on the ground, knowshon attempting to throw it on the ground before someone not getting paid jumped on it, Peyton int to nobody middle of the field, Welker and Decker running their routes at 75% speed, John Fox play call on 4th and 2 half of the Broncos barely running on the kickoff second half #rigged Seattle was not involved in anyway, something is awfully fishy about the effort level of that game from stars on the Broncos.this is gonna make the white Sox scandal look great in comparison.

Thanks to that clown fLoYD MaYwEAtHeR! LOL! He can throw 10million on a football game but will refuse a fight over money. Guy has single-handedly ruined the sport. Like the way he came out and said it was fake bet AFTER the fact. True loser.

I AM just a little confused, just how did Las Vegas make so mush money if the favorite lost (that being Denver) ? I always thought that the favorite team has to beat the spread ? Oh, shucks, I just remember how and why Las Vegas made such a killing on this S B. I assume that most everybody was betting on Denver to cover the spread and win the game, but since Denver did not do either one, that means all of those people lost and that is why Las Vegas made such a killing, right ? IMHO, if the odds had been higher on Denver to win, there may have been even more people betting on Denver, correct ? Just like I said on another web site, I am assuming that the Seattle defense figured out Peyton’s play calling, so that every time that he started saying “Omaha” they pretty much knew just what was taking place, wouldn’t some of you agree ? So I guess now, that Peyton Manning will have to get with ELI and his father during the off season and try to come up with some other type of new play calling wouldn’t some of you agree ? Especially since the word “Omaha” is surely to get out about Peyton and his use of it. Oh, by the way since I did not see or watch the S B, does anyone remember or even know just how many times that Peyton Manning used the word “Omaha” in his play calling during the S B ? Just curious if anyone remembered ?

Like I said back in March 2013, and before the draft when Denver was bringing in all of those F A’s and offering them big bucks, There has never, never been a team that has ever gone on to win a S B. That has tried to do so, by buying a S B team ? The last team to try that was “Philly” a few years back and it did not work for them either. Think about this, when you compare Denver to Seattle. Which team spent to most money on players, which team went out and spent the most money on F A’s during the off season to try and win the S B “THIS Year “, now after all was said and done and in the end who walked away with the S B trophy ? So now, what does anyone think will happen ( to all of those F A’s that were signed) during the off season, that Denver went out and paid those big bucko’s to sign just to win the S B . Also , I am just wondering what all of those fans that were saying what a wonderful genius Elway was just before the S B, by going out and getting all of these FA’s. Do they still think that Elway was such a genius now that the S B is over ?

People commenting on here obviously have no idea how legal gambling works. The casinos don’t care who wins or loses. Their goal is to get the same amount of money bet on both teams and they make their profit on the Vig- the percentage of your bet that they keep.

And it’s the public that really sets the line. The Broncos were favorites by as much as they were because Vegas kept pushing the line up trying to get people to bet on the Seahawks.

So to summarize, if they had intended to fix the game for the Seahawks to win, the would have made the SEAHAWKS the overwhelming pick so that more people would pick the BRONCOS.

And do you really think an industry that makes billions of dollars a year would potentially create a scandal over a $19.7M profit?

No- they made more money than usual because most gamblers have no idea what they are doing and put their money on the sexier team with the bigger stars that they saw on TV more, and this year that was the Broncos.

Line opened at Seattle -2 and moved 4.5 points because the public’s betting action was so strong in Denver’s favor.

There is a reason that casinos are built like palaces, and it’s not because people think rationally. When the oddsmakers make one team a favorite, and the betting action is strongly the other direction, you may want to open your eyes and hold on to your wallet before joining the lemmings in the rush to lose money.

I am always amazed that people believe Casino’s and the Bookmaking business are gambling. They build those palaces by avoiding as much risk as possible, and that means dispassionately favoring the team that is most popular with bettors. And bettors often act on emotion, like hating Richard Sherman, or liking Peyton Manning, or being from the area of the team. Vigorish is a charge for placing a bet, not gambling, and that’s where the record profits came from.